Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals go live with DrDoctor

Ophthalmology, gastroenterology and respiratory services within Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH) NHS Foundation Trust have gone live with text messaging service, DrDoctor.

The service, which sends out regular reminders for upcoming appointments, went live on 1 August.

All patients receiving a new appointment with the organisation will receive a text message containing all relevant details, as well as an invitation to use the new online portal.

Via this portal, patients can also access relevant information, maps and the ability to cancel or rearrange, should they need to.

The trust said the roll out across ophthalmology, gastroenterology and respiratory is part of a pilot programme and it intends to introduce DrDoctor to more services in the near future.

The current plan, according to the trust, is to have “everything in place by the end of 2019”.

Dr Mike Whiteside, physician and CCIO at DBTH, said: “In order to get the most from DrDoctor, it is important that we have your most up-to-date contact details. That way the system will be able to send notifications over text or through email and you will be able to respond in turn.

“Projects such as this are incredibly exciting for the trust. Ensuring we make the most of technology is key to our future success as an organisation and will undoubtedly help us to achieve our vision to be the safest trust in England, outstanding in all that we do.”

DrDoctor was part of DigitalHealth.London’s accelerator programme, which aims to speed up the adoption of technology in London’s NHS by working with start-ups and SMEs toward solutions that address the most pressing challenges facing the health service.

In October 2018, it was announced the online tool would be trialled across 11 NHS hospital sites which would be on top of ten hospitals which are already using it.